1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the destruction of organic waste in a molten salt medium, and is particularly directed to an improved molten salt vessel formed of diffusion resistant refractory for containment of molten salt used in a reaction for oxidative destruction of fluorine-containing organic waste and for preventing diffusion of destructive fluorine and fluorine compounds from said organic waste into the refractory brick forming the wall of the reaction vessel, and preventing destruction of the brick.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Molten salt oxidation (MSO) has been demonstrated to be a suitable technology for destroying hazardous organic wastes. The technology achieves this destruction by the catalytic oxidation of the organic compounds by molten salts at elevated temperatures. Certain of such organic wastes comprise fluorine-containing compounds such as Freons, which are chloro-fluoro methanes, and halons, which are similar to Freons, but contain a mixture of bromine and fluorine atoms, and which may also contain chlorine atoms, instead of just chlorine and fluorine atoms.
Conventional refractory bricks such as alumina bricks employed to form the wall of molten salt reaction vessels for containing molten salt, e.g. at 1000.degree. C., contain extensive open porosity, e.g. in the 2 to 20% range which accelerates diffusion of destructive fluorine and fluorine compounds such as the Freons and halons, into the brick. This leads to rapid destructive phase changes in the refractory or brick, such as alumina.
Thus, for example, molten salt oxidation normally employs sodium carbonate for the molten salt. When applied to hazardous fluorine-containing wastes, a reaction product will be sodium fluoride. Sodium fluoride is particularly reactive with and destructive of the alumina refractory or brick.